Kolkata, 20 August (H.S.)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the Union Government over its proposal to table the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament, calling it “a Hitlerian assault on the very soul of Indian democracy.”
Taking to microblogging site X, the Trinamool Congress chief described the proposed amendment as “more than a super-Emergency” and warned that it would permanently end India’s democratic era.
Banerjee alleged that the Bill was aimed at curbing citizens’ voting rights under the guise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and accused the Centre of attempting to strip the judiciary of its constitutional role. “The Bill seeks to take away the power of Courts to adjudicate on matters that lie at the very heart of justice and federal balance. By vesting such powers in partisan hands, the Bill mutilates democracy,” she wrote.
Calling the move “draconian regression,” Banerjee said it threatened to dismantle constitutional safeguards, silence judicial scrutiny, and trample on citizens’ rights. “This is how authoritarian regimes, even fascist ones in history, consolidated power. It reeks of the very mindset the world once condemned in the darkest chapters of the 20th century,” she added.
The Chief Minister further alleged that the amendment would hand sweeping powers to central agencies such as the ED and CBI—referred to by the Supreme Court as “caged parrots”—allowing them to interfere in the functioning of elected state governments.
“The intent of the Bill is to consolidate a system of one man, one party, one Government. To weaken the Courts is to weaken the people. To deny them the right to seek justice is to deny them democracy itself,” Banerjee said, adding that the move strikes at the basic structure of the Constitution—federalism, separation of powers, and judicial review.
Urging citizens and political forces across the country to oppose the proposal, she declared: “The Bill must be resisted at any cost! Democracy must be saved at this moment! The people will not forgive any attempt to take away their Courts, their rights, and their democr
acy. Jai Hind!”
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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey
